Much of the apparent scarcity is because China, the largest consumer of rare earth metals, is one of the few countries where REE currently are mined. China sits on approximately 40 percent of global reserves, but was responsible for 85 percent of global rare earth production in 2012.

From the mid-1960s through the 1980s, the United States provided the bulk of the world’s REEs from Molycorp’s Mountain Pass mine in California. But the mine was shut down in 2002 due to environmental violations and competition from China. The United States then became 100 percent reliant on imports.

China began reducing its exports of rare earth metals in 2008 to preserve supplies and protect its environment, causing prices to rise dramatically. This was a wake-up call for the international community, as it realized how dependent it was on China.

6. Good news: Other countries have reserves.

Countries around the world have geared up to develop alternative REE sources. But new mines can take up to 10 years to become productive.

In 2012, the total world capacity for producing rare earths was estimated at approximately 155,000 tons, but as more countries develop rare earth mining operations, 386,000 tons could be available by 2017. The supply of rare earth metals from the rest of the world outside of China is projected to increase by more than 27 percent per year between 2014 and 2020.

Mining REEs Around the World

United States: Molycorp’s Mountain Pass mine in California, which sits on 13 percent of the world’s supply, recently reopened.

Australia: Lynas has one of the largest and highest grade deposits of rare earths at its Mount Weld mine as well as a processing plant in Malaysia.

Russia: The country will invest $1 billion into rare earth metal production by 2018.

South Africa: Two mines have reopened.

Malawi: It has invested $20 million to explore its rare earth and natural gas resources. With five potential rare earth mines, Malawi could become the largest rare earth producer in Africa.

Also in Africa: Mozambique, Tanzania, Namibia, and Somalia are attracting the attention of foreign investors.

Greenland: Some European countries have an eye on Greenland, which has the largest deposit of REEs outside of China locked under its ice. Studies indicate that Greenland has enough rare earth metals to meet 25 percent of global demand for the future. However, these REEs are mixed with uranium, which Greenland has banned from mining, so they cannot be extracted.

Japan: In 2011, researchers found huge deposits of rare earth metals – including terbium, yttrium, and dysprosium – in sea mud 11,500 to 20,000 feet deep in the Pacific Ocean.

In addition: REE mines are being developed in Brazil, Canada, and Vietnam.

The problem with the current boom in REE mining, however, is the environmental damage left in its wake. REEs are bound up with low-level radioactive elements, which are lethal to humans and can contaminate the environment.

Also, mining and processing rare earth metals can leave behind toxic wastewater and tailings ponds that could leak into groundwater. A 2012 Chinese white paper on the country’s rare earth industry said that, “Excessive rare earth mining has resulted in landslides, clogged rivers, environmental pollution emergencies, and even major accidents and disasters, causing great damage to people’s safety and health and the ecological environment.”

Moreover, because rare earth metals are difficult to mine and separate, the processes require a significant amount of electricity, water, and chemicals.

It’s ironic that REEs account for much of the carbon footprint of green energy, and that such a highly energy-intensive process is needed to produce products (such as wind turbines and vehicles with electric motors) meant to reduce carbon emissions.

8. More good news: Future mining and materials are becoming more environmentally friendly.

The Department of Energy’s strategy for dealing with critical materials is to facilitate mining and processing in the United States and abroad in an “environmentally sound manner.” Moreover, they are to develop substitute materials and promote more efficient use, reuse, and recycling of REEs.

DOE’s Research on Alternative Materials

Examples include a $3.3 million DOE research project at Boston’s Northeastern University, which is aimed at creating new supermagnetic materials without REEs, and at figuring out how to mass-produce them. In preliminary research, scientists have found that layering common iron and nickel results in a nanomaterial that could become a rare magnetic alloy.

Scientists at the DOE’s Ames Laboratory’s Critical Materials Institute in Iowa are using one of the world’s most powerful computers to explore atoms and possible crystal structures and their properties. Their aim is to identify “sweet spots” with ideal properties in alloys that potentially could replace rare earth metals.

At the DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, researchers are using nanoscience to search for substitute materials. Nanoscience enables researchers to manipulate materials at atomic and molecular levels.

In addition, genomics are helping to identify microorganisms that could facilitate the release of rare earth metals from minerals.

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